Even with the use of sarcasm quotes I wish the media would refrain from referring to female pimps and traffickers as madams. It makes them seem less responsible for their crimes than their male counterparts. Not only that but the phrase madam conjures up images of Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke, Dolly Parton from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas or some equally fictionalized romanticism of madams. As I’ve said before female sex traffickers can be just as vicious if not more so with their victims.

While not necessarily vicious police in Pawtucket, Rhode Island arrested 21-year-old Nicole Ferreira for allegedly prostituting a 14-year-old girl on Backpage. The victim told police that Ferreira set her up on 50 ‘dates’. That means she was raped 50 times by johns. A 14-year-old girl can’t legally consent to sex whether she’s getting paid for it or not. When police questioned Ferreira about prostituting the girl she allegedly said “I just post the info and take the calls,” like she didn’t do anything wrong.

Both men and women are willing to trade illegally in the sexual slavery of children as evidenced here. Let’s not lessen the impact of the crime by calling them madams.

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1 Comment

Delilah JonesNovember 19, 2013 at 6:01 am

I couldn’t agree with you more about your assessment of women pimps and the way they are represented by media, however, there are times when the women pimps are themselves victims of trafficking, they’ve just moved up the food chain. Traffickers will use women and girls to gain the trust of new recruits as well as use them as a front, after all the public doesn’t perceive these women as the evil boogy man. Oftentimes it will be someone who has gotten a little too old, as evidenced here, a 21 year old pimping a 14 year old. She’s still useful to the traffickers as a recruiter and as an “appointment setter,” and could possibly be under the threat of harm, death, or the influence of drugs, as much as the 14 year old victim.